African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 696 Oil Well

On the shores of the vast Lake Turkana, a steam drilling machine was emitting billowing black smoke. The boiler worker continued to fill the furnace chamber with coal. Driven by the turbine, the heavy metal drill bit continued to work, up and down, hitting the furnace. After passing through the rock formation, the workers used tools to clean the rock debris brought out onto a wheelbarrow, pushed it away and then piled it aside. This is an oil exploration site in East Africa.

"Mr. Karls, can we really find oil here? This is the sixth drilling well we have dug this year. I feel that we are wasting our efforts. This situation is undoubtedly like finding a needle in a haystack." Oil worker Sol asked.

Saul's team is a team of professional oil workers who returned from studying in the oil-producing areas of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Three years ago, under the order of the kingdom, they returned to help East Africa search for oil.

The team’s steam drilling rig was commissioned by a German machinery company in East Africa, then shipped to Mombasa by sea, and finally transported to Turkana Province via rail and road.

"According to my judgment, evidence of possible oil has indeed been found around Lake Turkana, such as some ancient fossils and remains. However, currently we have no relevant theoretical support, so we want to dig out the oil here. , it can only be achieved through constant trying,” Karls said.

“Does this mean that you don’t even know whether there is oil in Turkana Province?” Saul asked.

"Ahem, that's true." Karls said with some embarrassment: "But oil is a very scarce resource. At present, the world's oil production areas are basically distributed in the United States and Eastern Europe, so it is normal that we can't find oil. .”

Saul frowned and asked: "The area of ​​East Africa is not small. It is impossible that a drop of oil cannot be found in such a large land!"

"Mr. Saul, it is too early to draw conclusions. In fact, oil exploration depends on luck. This is how the American oil industry developed. After all, they also lack relevant theoretical foundations and rely more on fossils, geology, etc. Making guesses, and the area we are currently exploring does not even cover one-third of Lake Turkana, let alone the entire Turkana Province, or the entire kingdom.”

“This is a kind of gamble!” Saul originally thought that as an expert geologist, Karls had some real abilities, but in the end he still relied on this method, which was really regrettable.

“In 1859, Edwin Laurentini Drake, a train driver from Pennsylvania, drilled the first oil well in the United States. This oil well was located in Towersville, Pennsylvania, and was dug to a depth of more than 21 meters. , this oil well kicked off the U.S. oil industry."

“Rockefeller himself started by building oil refineries, and now he monopolizes more than 80% of the U.S.’s refining capacity, more than 90% of its oil transportation, and 20% of its crude oil extraction.”

Karls defended: "It can't be said that we can't use theory to pinpoint the location of oil. This is because this is completely new knowledge to us humans. We didn't even have the so-called oil industry a few decades ago, and humans have applied it on a large scale. The history of oil in the industrial field is too short. If we can succeed, we can accumulate experience for the development of future oil exploration technology."

He then took the United States, which currently has the most developed oil industry, as an example.

 After all, it’s just constant drilling. Sol can do it by himself, but Kars seems useless, and everyone has to listen to his command.

"If it weren't for the layout of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Romania's oil industry, Europe would probably become Rockefeller's market. The United States alone accounts for about 70% of the world's oil production, so we are looking for opportunities in the interior of East Africa. Oil is not an easy thing either.”

"In fact, even with oil from Austria-Hungary and Romania, the international oil price is still controlled by the Americans. The good news is that oil production now far exceeds demand, so the oil price is acceptable. This is also a factor in East Africa's import of oil. , but the kingdom obviously attaches more importance to oil than any other country, and I think this has something to do with the automobile industry in East Africa."

 As for whether East Africa relies on its oil and automobile industries to stake its national destiny, it is not something that a little person like Karls can know. Although both petroleum and automobiles have appeared, the most important role of petroleum at present is as a means of lighting such as "kerosene lamps". After all, the popularization of electricity is a very long process.

Cars are the playthings of the "powerful", and even the lowest-priced bicycles are industrial products that can only be consumed by the middle class. Therefore, without decades of development, the future of these new industries is not clear for most countries. Only East Africa is making every effort to promote the development of related industries.

"Mr. Saul has also worked in the oil producing areas of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He should also know that the current discovery of oil is accidental. Just like the Americans, they use the simplest and crudest way to discover oil, so ours can only find it through Using the most primitive means to complete the Kingdom’s early oil exploration work, regardless of success or failure, this is a valuable experience.”

 The current oil exploration technology in the United States actually has little technical content. One of the most common methods is for a western cowboy to ride a horse and then "drill" where the wind blows his hat off to find oil.

This method is more "metaphysical" than in East Africa, but Americans rely on this method to make some people rich overnight.

Of course, this is also related to the westward expansion movement of the United States. After the first oil well was discovered, many "lunatics" bought land in the west, and then used cowboy hats to bet on the existence of oil on their land. This is the real " gamble".

Ernst had long known that there was an oil "hanging wall" in Turkana Province, which was incomprehensible to East Africa. Ernst knew that the intersection areas of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia had such potential in previous lives.

"Only when we actually drill an oil well can we turn experience into theory, and then use theory to find more oil. So Mr. Saul, the business we are engaged in now can definitely advance the process of human history, even if in the end We can still make discoveries and innovations in geology without finding oil!" said Karls.

 “Don’t say such depressing words, in case...” Saul hadn’t finished speaking.

 “It’s oil, Captain Saul!”

Saul’s mouth seemed to have been opened, and Karls was also a little surprised. He was slapped in the face just after he said that oil might not be found. This feeling is indeed very complicated, but it is more exciting.

Amid the loud noise of the steam engine, there was a burst of cheers. After three years of "hard" work, the first oil well in East Africa was finally born.

 The rolling underground "black gold" gushes out from the well. If placed in the free world, it would probably create another "wealth legend." However, in East Africa, where nationalization is the mainstream, this is the wealth of all East African citizens.

“Don’t get close yet to avoid the release of harmful gases in the oil wells. Enclose the place...” Saul began to direct the on-site oil workers based on his experience working in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

After working in East Africa for three years, I was finally able to use my expertise. Although there were a lot of drilling jobs before, most of them were dry wells, but this time they were real oil wells.

 (End of this chapter)